Nowadays people live always in a rash. They want to have more and more money, but they don’t want to enjoy their life. It’s a rat race. Everyone wants to be the first, the best. Everyone wants to earn a lot of money. That’s why people work so hard and so much. Because of rat race appears new addiction- workaholism - the addiction for work, career, or a belief that they are “the only one who can do the job right.”
Who are workaholics? The workaholics are the people, who are addicted to work. They often don’t enjoy their work, but rather simply feel compelled to do it. There is no generally accepted medical definition of such a condition, although some forms of stress, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder can be work-related. The term was apparently coined by psychologist Richard I. Evans, currently professor of psychology at the University of Houston. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workaholic)
It’s a very interesting film about workaholics in America. It shows that people are overworked and stress. They don’t know what free time is, they don’t want to have in. Workaholics will spend most of their lives at work or taking work home with them. They will often have little time for personal lives - family, hobbies, or relaxation. They also don’t want to have vacation. I suppose that it isn’t problem only in America. In all countries, there are people, who never take a break.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Here you have links connected to my presentation. Sorry that I put it so late.
A lot of food that we eat today contains genetically modified ingredients and usually without our knowledge. Genetically modified (GM) foods are food items that have had their DNA changed through genetic engineering. Since GM food was introduced in 1994 it is a very controversial issue. Some people say that it is a great chance for humanity and some claim that this phenomenon can lead to disaster. First of all the world's population increases. There are more and more people on the planet Earth. Hunger is one of the most important problems that human kind have to cope with. Genetically enginereed plants are bigger, usually cheaper, they grow faster and survive in cold climates. It can be the chance for the poor developing countries.
Some scientists say that genetically modyfied food can also be a solution for some diseases. They say that food can be a medicine as well. Genetically improved food can provide more nutritions.
On the other hand, the opponents say that the genetically modified food is not an only answer for hunger in the world. Increased food production is no solution for that. It is not the problem with the amount of food in the world but with distribution of it.
Furthermore, we can't predict the impact of genetically engineered organisms on the environment. We can't underestimate the power of the nature. Maybe those experiments will turn nature against us. all in all there are some advantages and disadvantages of genetically modyfied food.
In my opinion there is no point in stopping the researches, but scientists should be aware of some potential dangerous of messing with nature. The customers should be informed about the origin of the ingredients used in food industry.
Genetically modefied food is a kind of food which has been modified in laboratories or for penetrated roots by special substances which change their structure.Genes come not only from other plants but also from animals. Genetically modified food (GM) is very important for people all over the world. This discipline of science can be very helpful for us in the nearest future. Now we use this kind of food in many fields of activity. Though that, we can help poor and starving people living in the Third World countries. We are able to grow some plants in different climate. Thanks to that people from regions where growingeven small edible plant is very hard, can grow themselve a little essential food.
At the beginning we should discuss possitive sides of GM Food.
GM food help people suffering from allergies .Scientists can change the genetical structure of a plant and eliminated genes which evoke the allergy.
Pest resistance Crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B.t. corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market.
Herbicide tolerance For some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesn't harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product Roundup. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off.
Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases.
Cold tolerance Unexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would kill unmodified seedlings. (Note: I have not been able to find any journal articles or patents that involve fish antifreeze proteins in strawberries, although I have seen such reports in newspapers. I can only conclude that nothing on this application has yet been published or patented.)
Drought tolerance/salinity tolerance As the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places
On the other hand:
New allergens could be inadvertently created - known allergens could be transferred from traditional foods into GM foods. For instance, during laboratory testing, a gene from the Brazil nut was introduced into soybeans. It was found that people with allergies to Brazil nuts could also be allergic to soybeans that had been genetically modified in this way. No allergic effects have been found with currently approved GM foods.
Antibiotic resistance may develop - bioengineers sometimes insert a ‘marker’ gene to help them identify whether a new gene has been successfully introduced to the host DNA. One such marker gene is for resistance to particular antibiotics. If genes coded for such resistance enter the food chain and are taken up by human gut microflora, the effectiveness of antibiotics could be reduced and human infectious disease risk increased. Research has shown that the risk is very low; however, there is general agreement that use of these markers should be phased out.
Cross-breeding - other risks include the potential for cross-breeding between GM crops and surrounding vegetation, including weeds. This could result in weeds that are resistant to herbicides and would thus require a greater use of herbicides, which could lead to soil and water contamination. The environmental safety aspects of GM crops vary considerably according to local conditions.
Pesticide resistant insects - the genetic modification of some crops to permanently produce the natural biopesticide Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin could encourage the evolution of Bt-resistant insects, rendering the spray ineffective. Wherever pesticides are used, insect resistance can occur and good agricultural practice includes strategies to minimise this.
Biodiversity - growing GM crops on a large scale may also have implications for biodiversity, the balance of wildlife and the environment. This is why environmental agencies closely monitor their use.
Cross-contamination - plants bioengineered to produce pharmaceuticals (medicines etc) may contaminate food crops. Provisions have been introduced in the USA requiring substantial buffer zones, use of separate equipment and a rule that land used for such crops lie fallow for the next year.
